MetalDog wrote:
@marilena
I just don't see the beauty in the style at all. I think it looks fucking dreadful =D I also think Hellboy is supposed to be slow and cumbersome in fighting style - he's all STR and not much DEX - he can't shoot for shit half the time either.
Hollywood aside to dodge the 'pfft Hollywood' bias, I'd take the fight scenes from stuff like Mr. Vampire over CTHD any day of the week for looks and feel. Some of the unfloaty fights in CTHD were fantastic, but the horrible wire work and the story I didn't enjoy kind of killed any gain from those for me.

I'm kind of surprised I'm so lonely in being of this opinion though - I thought once the hype had died down I'd be joined by a few more (as I have been in the Nolan Batman issues).

I feel the same, there's a lot of beauty in films like Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, etc but it doesn't come from the scenes of people flying about. I find them far too silly to the point of being jarring and taking away from the experience.

I think it's because theres not meant to be anything special about these people other than they're great warriors which obviously doesn't imbue you with magical powers. I expect there's some cultural aspect that I'm not aware of though.

During one scene a barmaid bends over to pick up a beer, and The Gent (Michael Madsen) says Ďwhat-a-country..í - that pretty much sums up this film. Then again, thatís what Hell Rise wants to be. As the film cover states Ďfully loaded with bikers, babes and boozeí. Forget the story, that doesnít cunt, i mean count. Itís just a film filled with driven-in-movie vibes. Screwed up colour timing and all that stuff. It stars some big names, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, David Carradine, Larry Bishop, Vinnie Jones, and Executive Producer Quentin Tarantino. Iíll be honest, under normal circumstances the DVD cover with itís bikers would make me run a mile. Slap the words Quentin Tarantino over the front and Iím attract like a bee is to a flower.

Hell Ride does what it does well. Itís not deep, its not meaningful. Itís entertaining for a while. To be fair, the 76min runtime flashes by. Itís borderline ridiculous humorous stuff.

Special mention goes to the audio. Thereís lots of snippets of music I loved..

Takes an idea that could easily be terrible (hell, look at something like Knowing for a not dissimilar premise) but handles it in a mature and interesting way. Very well acted too, both Shannon and Chastain are awesome. I've only seen Chastain in this and The Tree of Life, but she's very good isn't she?

Distinctly average spook film in which the CIA and FBI team up to catch a Soviet assassin who resurfaces suddenly after 20 years.

This is the sort of film that would get shown on TV on a Saturday afternoon after an episode of Columbo. It's not bad, just very average and a bit bland despite having some great ideas.

The hunt for the assassin has a No Way Out kind of vibe to it. What this film does have going for it is that there is a stunningly obvious plot twist that you can pretty much guess right from the go. It delivers this 'twist' very early on so you're wondering where it's going to go next. Then there's another twist which changes the film from a hunt into a came of cat-and-mouse.

The final twist though is so utterly ridiculous it's totally laughable. It's almost at the end of the film though so you don't have to sit through it too much longer.

One of those films that's 'watchable' meaning it won't bore you to death and keeps you vaguely interested but does nothing else. Instantly forgettable fodder that's no that entertaining. If you were watching this with a hangover from hell you probably wouldn't bother switching the channel.

Red Lights - 7/10

Decent thriller that's worth a watch about a group of physicists who investigate a world renowned psychic who they think to be a fraud.

The less you know abut this film when you see it the better. It's got a good script, a terrific cast and a gripping plot.

I'm too tired to do a full review of this and I want to watch Sand Sharks.

It's good. Watch it. you may well like it.

The Resident Evil films. I'm one of the reasons they keep making them.

I think the first two acts are excellent and really set the scene for what you hope will be a dramatic climax. I think the problem is that the director bungled the ending horribly. He seemed to be going for a sixth-sense type reveal, but didn't pull it off so the time invested seemed wasted.

So against my better judgement I watched Anchorman last night. It's one of those films that friends and colleagues have been banging on about so much that I was determined not to watch it just out of principle

Early signs were not good as the first 10 minutes barely registered a chuckle, however as soon as Christina Applegate joins the news team it seems to hit its stride and just about passes the 6 laugh benchmark.

Good fun, but not the comedy tour-de-force I had been told it was. Then again, it's basically the same people that go nuts over Zoolander and I think that's virtually laugh-free.

Blakester wrote:
So against my better judgement I watched Anchorman last night. It's one of those films that friends and colleagues have been banging on about so much that I was determined not to watch it just out of principle

Early signs were not good as the first 10 minutes barely registered a chuckle, however as soon as Christina Applegate joins the news team it seems to hit its stride and just about passes the 6 laugh benchmark.

Good fun, but not the comedy tour-de-force I had been told it was. Then again, it's basically the same people that go nuts over Zoolander and I think that's virtually laugh-free.

75%

I'm not sure what's worse, counting the number of times you laugh or having a laugh benchmark that films have to pass.

Don't think theres nothing worse going into a film with expectations. Anchorman is a very funny film, but its like 8 years old now. You obviously had loads of people bang on how great it is, so you go in wanting to pick it apart. Theres been a load of shit will ferrel movies since which doesn't help.

I been trying to see films at the cinema now without listening to reviews. its hard as i live in the middle of no where and we don't get films straight away (we are getting lincoln next week though! but no sign of django unchained)

Silver Linings Playbook76%
I was worried going in to this but ended up really enjoying it. Bradley Cooper is surprisingly good and it wasn't nearly as "kooky!" as I'd feared. Charming is probably the best way to describe it.

TheSaint wrote:
I'm not sure what's worse, counting the number of times you laugh or having a laugh benchmark that films have to pass.

I think he's referencing the Mark Kermode thing about laughing five (I think) times in the fim or it's not a comedy, which isn't entirely serious.

I did the same kind of thing with Anchorman, watched it for the frist time recently and kind of got it, but also kind of didn't.

It's a zeitgeist thing really. It's the kind of thing I'd have loved as a student and would have enjoyed repeatedly watching whilst being mashed and quoting it lots and all that. It has a bit of a cult around it and that's all part of the fun. I don't think it quite holds up as a standalone comedy with none of that around it, but it's not awful either. I pretty much agree with Blakester basically.

kalel wrote:
It's a zeitgeist thing really. It's the kind of thing I'd have loved as a student and would have enjoyed repeatedly watching whilst being mashed and quoting it lots and all that. It has a bit of a cult around it and that's all part of the fun. I don't think it quite holds up as a standalone comedy....

So many American comedies fall into that category, IMHO. Happy Gilmore is another classic example - watched that so many times drunk/hungover at UNi', but outside that environment it doesn't hold up. Anything starring Sandler, Ferrel, and/or Stiller fits that category for me. Take 'em or leave 'em.

Finally got round to watching this thanks to a free trial of Now TV on my Xbox. Phew, the film got pretty rough towards the end. It's under the 'comedy' tab, but it's very black comedy. Enjoyed Nathan Fillion's cameo and Page put in a decent, if slightly mad, performance. Still, wasn't too long and the 90 mins seemed to fly by. Not sure if I could watch it again anytime soon though.

jellyhead wrote:@Blakester
Why'd you have to say that? You come out with stink like that. Poop.
You poopmouth, with poop out of your mouth!

I love the Anchorman and i'm looking forward to the new one but i agree with Zoolander. Didn't really rate it.

Of all the Anchorman quotes, that's the one I say to the wifey most, as I thought it was one of the lesser used/acknowledged ones.
Damn you!!
Anchorman is easily one of my favourite comedies, and because I'm super cool and a trend setter I actually liked it before it became hip to like it (I was one of the 50 that saw it in the cinema) the problem is no other comedy since then has managed that same genius level of improv randomness (Step Brothers and Eastbound&Down came close) I honestly don't think they'll be able to capture that magic again, I have a feeling the sequel will just go through the motions and be a tad shitty.

A bit of a weird one this. Its wears its idea on its sleeve so blatantly, but at the same time i guess it doesn't really fall into convential hollywood survival films, giving us a sombre tale of men who set off to die (before they even crash in the plane) and kind of does it quite well in the end.